Former Call of Duty Vet plans to “dethrone” it

Former senior vice president and head of publishing at Activision Dusty Welch has formed a new studio called U4iA Games, and plans to usurp Call of Duty’s genre-leading position.

Welch’s first game will be a free-to-play browser-based FPS title aimed to take down on Call of Duty in the competitive gaming sphere.

“I created Call Of Duty to dethrone the established leaders back in the early 2000s, and you bet my goal at U4iA is to repeat that success again,” Welch claimed.

“Providing a AAA, first person shooter experience in a browser is really what the end game is for us. And I think that’s going to help lead the new dynamic and a transition of gamers into the social.”

Welch added that while MOBA popularity is on the rise, the competitive FPS genre’s fanbase eclipses it entirely.

“I think that yeah, U4iA can match or exceed the user base that [League of Legends publisher] Riot is experiencing today,” he said.

“Much bigger genre, sticky proposition, e-sport competitive first person shooters are the hallmark of why so many gamers are playing on Xboxes and PlayStation 3s today, and we’re going to provide a whole unique way to experience that in a AAA free-to-play package.”

Welch played a significant role in the success of Activision’s franchises such as Guitar Hero and Call of Duty during his stint with the publisher.

Social studio U4iA, formed by ex-Call of Duty veterans Dusty Welch and executive producer Chris Archer, has announced its first game, Offensive Combat. The game is a multiplayer FPS that’ll come to browsers, with tablet and mobile versions also mentioned. More on TVGB.